My 24th Birthday

Yes that is right ladies and gentlemen. This woman is 24 now. I usually forget my own age now but I suppose I do enjoy the reflection period that comes with aging another year in the books. It always makes me reflect on whether the past year was indeed successful in my own agenda and if I had lived my time wisely.

An overview of my reflection on 23.

• I graduated from university with my BA as Cum Laude and high distinctions in my faculty. I was so proud of myself for really taking school as seriously as I did ever since I moved back to the states from Sweden. I achieved the goals I had set for myself back in 2008.
• I paid off a huge student loan
• I fell in love and learned a lot from it. Even if we decided to not be together anymore, I appreciate the lessons I learned from it.
• I was invited to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Georgia 😀
• I became a bone marrow donor
• I learned another language- Georgian!
• I lost 20 lbs!
• I volunteered as an assistant teacher for an adult ESL class and learned a lot from my students
• I was swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer!
• I watched my big sister walk down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams.
• All and all. It was an amazing year!!!

Now for 24- On the day of my birthday I walked into school and was immediately met by two of my 5th grader girls who could not remember happy birthday in English. They whispered back and forth and then just said it in Georgian. They are so cute. Then I went up to my 6th grade class and the girls lined up and sang me happy birthday (in English) as I walked into class. I teared up and honestly felt a tear or two roll down my cheeks. I couldn’t help myself. It was overwhelming kind of them.

Then they proceeded to hand me handmade cards (all in English- talk about good practice). Most had even made homemade envelopes. It was honestly the sweetest thing I had ever experienced. They were just smiling ear to ear when I thanked them.

After my 6th graders I had students walking past me in school, everyone wishing me a happy birthday and random students from all grades giving me birthday cards. When I was teaching my 8th graders when one of my 12th grade boys knocked on the door. He asked me to come out into the hallway. Two of the boys handed me a small bouquet of roses each and wished me happy birthday. I thanked them from the bottom of my heart. Goodness my students are wonderful people. Really.

All my co-teachers congratulated me on another year (they say congratulations in Georgian) and then proceeded to tell me they cannot wait to congratulate me when I am getting married. In other words they told me to hurry up and get married. Haha. Oh Georgians and never being blunt about marriage.

When I got home my host brother and sister presented me with a homemade necklace. They were so excited about it as was I. I felt terrible because everyone in my house had been so sick all week. I did not want any fuss about my birthday as I preferred that they all got better. But my mom made a huge cake for me. My sister and brother sang in English and then in Georgian before I blew out the candles. Then we ate lots of cake, watermelon, and chestnuts. It was wonderful.

I spent the weekend in Kutaisi with Peace Corps and a TLG friend of mine. It was a lot of fun. We laughed and had a good time just catching up. On Sunday we spent the early afternoon at our fellow PCVs’ fair on women’s health. It was so nice to see the number of women who came through the door and the different organizations that were present. One of my friends and I went into the streets to canvas further and between the two of us were able to in Georgian tell the women we encountered about the fair. It was really great.

OVERALL- an amazing birthday.